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Deliberately moving the camera during a longish exposure can yield some quite delightful results, somehwat reminiscent of a Monet or other impressionist artist.
Two of the things I like about these panning blurs is the spontaneity and fun of shooting them. It's a world away from the careful, measured approach normally associated with landscape photography. Also, you nver quite know what you're going to get. It could be rubbish or a masterpiece. Great stuff.
But how to get the best out of this technique? Here are some pointers.
The subject of a good panning blur photo needs to be linear, such as trees (vertical), a beach (horizontal) and so on. This is so the subject is still recognisable once blurred.
The composition needs to be simple. A frame full of a myriad details will dissolve into chaos once blurred.
Subdued, low contrast lighting works best. Any overly bright patches in the frame will blur across the parts you want to see.
The subject of your blur needs to be a significantly different colour and/or tone to the background, so that the subject still stands out once blurred.
Shutter speed relative to the speed of panning is the most important factor in getting a favourable blur. Speed of panning in turn is influenced by the amount of light available at the time of shooting.
I always shoot dozens of images of the same subject, varying panning speed and shutter speed. I don't finally choose my favourite until I can compare all the images on a computer monitor, not on the camera screen.
Filename - treeblur 10.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105 zoom @ 80mm
Exposure - 1.3sec @ f11, ISO100
Location - Gwysaney estate, North Wales
This image - 800x640px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Image intentionally blurred by panning during the exposure.
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